Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin
Lagos — The Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, OSGOF, and the National Hydrographic Agency, NHA, are partnering with the aim of safeguarding Nigeria’s national maritime interests.
This was the focus as the Surveyor General of the Federation, Surv. Abudulganiyu Adeyemi Adebomehin, and his management team received the audience of the Hydrographer of the Federation, who is in charge of the National Hydrographic Agency, NHA, Rear Admiral Ayo Olugbode.
Their discussion was premised on how to advance the hydrography in the country especially in the area of staffing , the mutual discussion took place at the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, OSGOF, headquarter in Abuja.
The NHA contributes to helping Nigeria fulfil her commitment to international treaties, conventions, and protocols and plays a vital role in safeguarding national maritime interests. The NHA ensures compliance with International Hydrographic Organization, IHO, standards.
The Surveyor General of the Federation said: “This is a new frontier for the OSGOF in which the Navy represents the military while OSGOF will stand for the civilians at the National Hydrographic Agency and a competent hand will be sent from my office to NHA to represent our office.”
The Hydrograhper of the Federation, on his part, said: “This is homecoming for me. As a surveyor too, coming to the office of the Surveyor General of the Federation is a great privilege for me, not only have you given me inspiration this morning, you have given me guidance, you have given me wisdom, you’ve given me what you call institutional memory of how things should be done. We will not stay away from you. I hope you will not find us a bit of a bother.
“As time goes on, those of you who are even part of his staff and executive team, you will be finding me here more often, and I’m telling you, it’s not rhetoric. I will be coming here very frequently, as Hydrographer of the Federation, we are joined at the hip”
He added: “His responsibility is terrestrial, mine is maritime. I’m privileged to be appointed by the president to be governor of the ocean, the responsibility of 84,000 square nautical miles is what is on me. One-third of the land, Nigeria is 923 square kilometers, It’s a huge responsibility, It’s a responsibility that is a shared burden between us.”
